-Birthday Day-

On John Hall's actual birthday, we took him to eat ice cream for the first time! He absolutely LOVED it!!!

After our ice cream treat, we went to a local park and let him swing. He seriously loves swinging and gets so excited when he sees one.
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I can't believe how fast his birthday came and went. It was a very special day for us and one that I will treasure forever!

John Hall's Barnyard Dance!!!

For a while, Jason and I talked about the "theme" for John Hall's very first birthday party. Since I LOVE party planning, I found this a fun pastime! We finally narrowed down our decision to a Sandra Boynton Book titled "Barnyard Dance." He simply LOVES to read most of her books and I don't know how we would have gotten through his first year without them!


Daddy, Mommy, and our big One-Year-Old!!!

John Hall was so happy his Muddie and Pop made the trip for the party! (JH's mommy was especially happy for her help blowing up balloons!!!)

All the "Hall" cousins with Ose and Pa were there ready to celebrate!

I cannot believe a whole year has slipped by and I couldn't be more grateful for our sweet boy!

Party Kids!

Here are most of the kids who were there to celebrate John Hall's birthday, although some had to duck out because it was NAP time!

Present Time!

He wasn't so interested in the gifts and would focus on whatever he just opened and want to play with that...it was a long process, but we were very thankful to everyone for all their generous gifts!

You wouldn't believe the effort some people went to in wrapping his gifts. Here is an example of the creative stuff...how cute is that??!!!

He got all sorts of barnyard themed gifts, clothes, outdoor toys, puzzles, blocks, books, etc! I couldn't believe it!

After the party, we went home with a few cousins in tow and played with some of his birthday gifts outside like his new car from Ose and Pa and HOMEMADE swing constructed by Muddie and Pop! It was so fun to play!!!

The Cake

My TALENTED friend, Amy, made the cake. I was in AWE by how precious it turned out! I gave her an idea of what I had in mind, and boy, did she knock this one out of the park. It seriously tasted as good as it looked; I cannot tell you how many people told me that very thing. I may be a little bias, but I think it's just about the cutest birthday cake I've ever seen!!! She did such a wonderful job!!! Thank you so much, Amy!

This was John Hall's "smash" cake. It was chocolate and yummy. The only problem was, he didn't seem to care for it too much. I had to do a little encouraging to get him to eat it. I think he was wondering what in the world was going on! It was pretty funny!

The birthday guests waiting for a show...and they were waiting, and waiting, and waiting...

He loves to clap "yea"....Here he is clapping for himself!

Kelly helped me with clean-up!

Party guests playing and Having Fun!!!

My Dad's cousin and daughter, Melanie & Stephanie, came all the way from Jonesboro, AR for the party. I thought that was so sweet and we're so happy they made the trip! It was so nice to see them!

We had the party at our club in the "kid room" which was nice since it was split into two sections: one side has a big-screen television along with tables, and the other has an arcade.

Decorations

I made these little centerpieces for each table out of foam. I hand drew them and glued each piece together. They were a little more work than what I originally thought they would be, but once I started them, I had to finish them! It was worth the effort and I thought they made a pretty fun centerpiece...

Cake Chair...

One morning during John Hall's nap, Mom and I made all sorts of banners based off the book to hang on the walls. I was so happy with how they turned out! I am so grateful for all her help with this...(btw, I should mention that in addition to my MIL's help, mom, dad, Jamie, and even Sam came out to help with party preparations while Jason and "big" John babysat the birthday boy)

The phrase at the beginning of the book says, "stomp your feet, clap your hands, everybody ready for a barnyard dance...."

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It has other parts like, "prance with the horses, skitter with the mice, swing with your partner once or twice...with a naa and a moo and a cock-a-doodle-doo, everybody promenade two by two..." Maybe the banners will make a little more sense to some who may not have read the book....

The party favor table...

Arcade room tables. On the middle table, I had a basket with kits so the kiddos could make barn picture frames. I wish I had a pictures of some of their creations!

I had the video from a few posts earlier playing on the big screen on mute with "barnyard" music playing for the party mood. The music on the video is slow in some parts, but is meaningful to us...however, doesn't really encourage a fun party mood! ha!

We really enjoyed his first birthday and we were so happy to celebrate it with our family and close friends. We couldn't be any more blessed!